Is Microsoft Advertising (UET) GDPR compliant?

What does Microsoft Advertising (UET) do?

The universal event tag behind Bing and Microsoft Audience ads. It attributes conversions and builds remarketing lists, which is advertising and therefore consent-based without exception.

Does Microsoft Advertising (UET) need consent?

Yes. Microsoft Advertising (UET) is Advertising, which is never strictly necessary for a website to function. Under ePrivacy Article 5(3), and its national transpositions, storing or reading anything on the device for that purpose requires consent first, and that consent has to be as easy to refuse as it is to give.

ePrivacy Art. 5(3) · TDDDG § 25 (DE) · TKG 2021 § 165(3) (AT) · GDPR Art. 6(1)(a)

Does Microsoft Advertising (UET) send data outside the EEA?

Yes. Microsoft Advertising (UET) processes data outside the European Economic Area, so you need a transfer mechanism under Chapter V and you have to say so in your privacy policy. In practice this means standard contractual clauses, or a provider certified under the EU-US Data Privacy Framework.

GDPR Art. 44 · GDPR Art. 46

How do we detect Microsoft Advertising (UET)?

We load your page in a real browser as a first-time visitor who clicks nothing, then look at what it contacted. Microsoft Advertising (UET) is recognised by requests to bat.bing.com and bat.bing.net, and we report whether it merely loaded or actually sent data, and whether it set a cookie before any choice was made.